While the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre has been working hard to keep their memory alive in Longreach, the nearby town of Blackall this week helped honour the industry in a big way when it unveiled a Drovers Memorial Wall.

The brainchild of local identity, Stewart Benson, the wall sited at Blackall’s Ram Park tourism complex contains an astounding 70 plaques and well over 100 names of people, all from Blackall, who have had a connection with droving over the years.

It was unveiled before a crowd of hundreds attending the town’s 150th anniversary celebrations, among them the boss drovers, drovers’ cooks, horse tailers and shepherds whose names have been recorded for all time.

Drovers etched in Blackall’s history

Stewart Benson, Jane Scobie and Rosemary Champion following the unveiling of the wall.

The drovers, cooks, horse tailers and shepherds present on the day gathered in front of the wall.

Alan Pont, great-grandson of Boney Pont, the Barcoo's first drover, and Keith 'Beaver' Dendle, one of Blackall's droving legends.

It was an emotional moment for Valmai and Deni Benson to see the plaque listing the names of the various Benson family members associated with droving in Blackall - Stewart, Roslyn, Tania, Valmai and Leonard.

Cam Schutt catching up with another of Blackall's droving identities, Trevor Christianson, who spent 40 years droving along the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers and Cooper Creek.

Some of the crowd watching the unveiling at Ram Park.

The mob of sheep making up their minds about moving forward in the face of a large crowd of onlookers.

Thanks to the skill of the men and dogs handling the mob, the sheep eventually proceeded forward towards Blackall.

Owen Stockwell and Doreen Womersley were two of the local faces enjoying the heritage day at Ram Park.

Helping cook up about 20 dampers was Dirranbandi's Noeleen Lindsay, a friend of Stew Benson's.

A bullock team has been another of the wonderful sights around the streets of Blackall this week.

He took the mob west from Rockhampton along the Dawson River, over the virgin country of the Expedition Range and the Great Dividing Range, to the Barcoo River watershed, paving the way for many others following.

The unveiling was preceded by the spectacle of a mob of sheep being brought across the Barcoo River on the southern outskirts of town, a precarious operation given the crowd of hundreds watching on.

After a short rest on the open concrete bridge to pick up a couple of strays, Peter Avery and Mick Rigby, together with Mick’s sheepdogs, demonstrated their bushmanship skills and brought the mob through the onlookers to their destination in the middle of town.

The official opening of the wall was conducted by Longreach’s Rosemary Champion, who described it as a mecca for people to visit, and history that was essential to preserve.

Rosemary is one of those associated with the Eternal Muster wall at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

Now that Blackall’s wall is there for all to see, Jane Scobie expected there would be plenty more interest from others keen to add their own names or names of family members.

A lot of supporting information forwarded by families providing details for the plaques was also displayed on the day.